Strawberry plant Ofra

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct variety of strawberry (Fragaria L.) called &#34;Ofra&#34; is disclosed. The variety is a cross between &#34;Parker&#34; and &#34;111&#34;, which results in a variety that flowers several months earlier than most other known strawberry varieties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety ofstrawberry (Fragaria L.) called "Ofra". The variety was developed froman organized scientifically designated breeding program carried out atthe Agricultural Research Organization, the Volcani Center, Bet Dagan,Israel. The variety is the product of selection of seedlings resultingfrom crosses between the strawberry varieties "Parker" and "111". Thevariety was asexually vegetatively propagated through runners and thereproduction ran true.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The new variety "Ofra" is able to grow in September and produce fruitstarting in November and lasting until summer. The production of fruitbeginning in November is two months earlier than short-day strawberryvarieties and within a similar time frame of strawberry varieties"Shalom" (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,876), "Smadar" (U.S. Plant Pat. No.7,865), "Saaid" (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,870), "Dorit" (U.S. Plant Pat.No. 7,869) "Sharon" (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,881). The fruit of the "Ofra"variety is characterized by good taste, good shape and size as well as along shelf life.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1.--Photograph of the "Ofra" variety illustrating the fruit.

FIG. 2.--Photograph of the "Ofra" variety illustrating a cross-sectionof the fruit.

FIG. 3.--Photograph of the "Ofra" variety illustrating the entire plantwith foliage, flowers and fruit.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The "Ofra" variety was grown in winter under polyethylene tunnels inIsrael. "Ofra" is a an infra short-day strawberry variety. Infrashort-day varieties are induced to initiate flower bud primordia inresponse to relatively long light regimes (but under short-dayconditions) and are relatively insensitive to night temperatures.Flowering and fruit production is not affected by the use ofpolyethylene wind tunnels. This production procedure is utilized innormal agricultural practices by the skilled artisan and does notinvolve temperature or light control. Mother plants were stored at 0° C.from January through April. They were then planted in the nurserywithout further treatment. Runners with plantlets were produced duringsummer. These young plantlets were collected from the nursery inSeptember and transferred to raised beds. Average temperatures at thattime of the year are 30° C. during the day and 22° C. at night. Waterand fertilizers were applied through drip irrigation. An example of anoptimum planting date is between August 25 and September 5 with theapproximate date of flowering on October 1-10 and the approximate dateof first fruiting on November 1-10. "Ofra" flowering is not induced bychilling, but by natural exposure to shortening day length. Colorreadings described herein were taken under natural light conditions andcolor identifications were made by reference to The Royal HorticulturalSociety Colour Chart (RHSCC) except where common terms of colordefinition are employed.

The pertinent characteristics of the present invention are presented inTable 1 and Table 2. Additionally, the variety "Ofra" (1) has notendency toward fruit malformation; (2) disease resistance appearsnormal in that no particular problematic conditions arose during trials;and (3) the type of bearing is not remontant (e.g., "Ofra" bloomsperpetuously, during late fall and winter).

The fruit is longer than broad, with first order and second order fruitpossessing distinct shapes (Table 2). The fruit is very firm with anorange-red color (Table 2).

The variety "Ofra" flowers several months earlier than known strawberryvarieties. One of the closest known varieties would be "Karina" (Table1), and the new varieties mentioned supra; e.g., U.S. Plant Pat. No.7,881 ("Sharon"), U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,876 ("Shalom"), U.S. Plant Pat.No. 7,865 ("Smadar"), U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,870 ("Saaid") and U.S. PlantPat. No. 7,869 ("Dorit"). Additionally, early flowering results in earlyfruit production for "Ofra" and the two varieties, "Virginia", subjectof a U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 07/823,802, filed Jan. 22,1992, and "Nama", subject of U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No.07/823,721, filed Jan. 22, 1992. Total Soluble Solids (TSS), marketableappearance, fruit color, sepal appearance, firmness, pressure defectsand general health are presented in Table 3 by comparison to theco-pending varieties as well as the short-day variety, "Douglas" (U.S.Plant Pat. No. 4,487).

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                        PLANT CHARACTERISTICS OF "OFRA"                                               MORPHOLOGICAL              COMPARABLE                                         TRAIT        DESCRIPTION.sup.a                                                                           VARIETY.sup.b                                      ______________________________________                                        Classification                                                                             Botanical-                                                                    Fragaria L.                                                      Plant habit  Flat-Globose  "Sengana"                                          Plant density                                                                              Medium        "Gorella"                                          Plant vigor  Strong        "Grande"                                           Plant diameter                                                                             160-220 mm                                                       Plant height 80-90 mm                                                         Leaf:                                                                         a) Length    120-190 mm                                                       b) Width     100-150 mm                                                       c) Color                                                                      1) Upper Side:                                                                             Medium Green                                                     d) Blistering                                                                              Weak                                                             e) Cross-section                                                                           Concave                                                          f) # of leaflets                                                                           Sometimes >3                                                     Terminal leaflet                                                              a) Length/Width                                                                            As long as broad                                                 ratio                                                                         b) Shape of base                                                                           Obtuse                                                           c) Shape of teeth                                                                          Obtuse                                                           d) Length    60-75 mm                                                         e) Width     60-75 mm                                                         Flower                                                                        a) Size      Medium        "Gorella"                                          b) Size of calyx to                                                                        Similar                                                          corolla                                                                       c) Size of inner calyx                                                                     Larger                                                           versus outer calyx                                                            d) Spacing of petals                                                                       Overlapping                                                      e) Diameter                                                                   1) First order                                                                             32 mm                                                            2) Second order                                                                            28 mm                                                            f) Petal length/width                                                                      Nearly as broad                                                               as long                                                          1) length    12-13 mm                                                         2) width     14-15 mm                                                         g) Time of flowering                                                                       Very early    "Karina".sup.c                                     Stolon                                                                        a) Number    Many          "Gorella" .sup.d                                   b) Thickness Thick                                                            c) Anthocyanin                                                                             Weak                                                             coloration                                                                    Petiole                                                                       a) Pose of hairs                                                                           Outwards                                                         b) Length    55-90 mm                                                         Fruiting Truss:                                                                            Prostrate                                                        Attitude                                                                      Stipule: Anthocyanin                                                                       Medium                                                           Coloration                                                                    Inflorescence                                                                 a) Position relative                                                                       Above                                                            to foliage                                                                    ______________________________________                                         .sup.a The description of "Ofra" is based on the test guidelines for          Fragaria L. of the International Union for the Protection of New Plant        Varieties, (UPOV).                                                            .sup.b Only characteristcs which are relevant for comparing varities are      listed. For example, there are no varietal differences acknowledged in th     characteristic "color of lower side of leaf".                                 .sup.c "Ofra" flowers at the end of October. One of the earliest known        varieties for comparison is "Karina", which flowers in January.               Additionally, "Ofra" flowers within approximately the time range as           strawberry varieties "Shalom" (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7876), "Smadar" (U.S.      Plant Pat. No. 7,865, "Saaid" (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,870, "Dorit" (U.S.       Plant Pat. No. 7,869, in U.S. Plant Pat. Application Ser. No. 07/823,802,     filed Jan. 22, 1992, and U.S. Plant Pat. Application Ser. No. 07/823,721,     filed Jan. 22, 1992, respectively.                                            .sup. d "Ofra" still produces more runners than the comparable variety,       "Gorella".                                                               

                  TABLE 2                                                         ______________________________________                                        FRUIT CHARACTERISTICS OF "OFRA"                                               CHARACTERISTCS       DESCRIPTION                                              ______________________________________                                        Time of ripening     Very Early                                               Ratio of length/maximum width                                                                      Longer than broad                                        Size                 Large                                                    First Order                                                                   a) Predominant Shape Wedges                                                   b) Length            45-55 mm                                                 c) Width             30-40 mm                                                 d) Thickness         22-30 mm                                                 e) Weight            27 g                                                     Second Order                                                                  a) Predominant Shape Conical                                                  b) Length            45-50 mm                                                 c) Width             25-30 mm                                                 d) Thickness         23-28 mm                                                 Difference in Shape Betwen First                                                                   Marked                                                   Order and Second Order Fruit                                                  Band without achenes Narrow or Medium                                         Unevenness of surface                                                                              Absent or Very weak                                      Color                Red                                                      Evenness of color    Even                                                     Glassiness           Strong                                                   Insertion of achenes Below surface                                            Insertion of calyx   Set above fruit                                          Pose of calyx segments                                                                             Reflexed                                                 Size of calyx in relation to                                                                       Same size                                                fruit diameter                                                                Adherence of calyx   Very strong                                              Firmness             Very firm                                                Color of flesh       Orange-red                                               Eveness of flesh color                                                                             Slightly uneven                                          ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 3                                                         ______________________________________                                        COMPARATIVE SHELF-LIFE AND FLAVOR OF "OFRA"                                                                      Mar-                                       Percentage             Se-         ket-                                              Pres-                                                                              Firmness.sup.a                                                                           pal         able                                                    sure        New-  ap-  Fruit                                                                              ap-   Sugar                          Vari-        de-    Vis- ton   pear-                                                                              co-  pear- content                        ety  Health  fects  ual  units ance.sup.b                                                                         lor.sup.c                                                                          ance.sup.d                                                                          T.S.S..sup.e                   ______________________________________                                        First test:                                                                   at harvest date                                                               Ofra 100      0       5  6.0   5    4.0  4.5   9.6                            Vir- 100      0       5  4.2   5    3.5  4.0   8.5                            ginia.sup.f                                                                   Na-  100      0       5  3.7   5    3.5  4.0   8.0                            ma.sup.g                                                                      Douglas.sup.h                                                                 100       0       5    3.7   5    4.5  4.0   6.5                              Second test:                                                                  After 3 days of storage at 2° C.                                       Ofra 92       8     4.0  6.0   4    4.2  4.4                                  Vir- 80      20     3.5  3.5   4    4.2  3.8                                  ginia                                                                         Na-  78      22     3.5  3.0   4    4.0  3.7                                  ma                                                                            Douglas                                                                       76       24     3.7    3.5   4    5.0  3.7                                    Third test:                                                                   after 3 days storage at 2° C. plus                                     2 additional days at simulated shelf temperature of 18° C.             Ofra 55      45     3.5  5.5   3.2  4.5  3.5                                  Vir- 50      50     3.0  2.8   3.0  4.5  3.2                                  ginia                                                                         Na-  44      56     3.0  3.0   3.0  4.5  3.0                                  ma                                                                            Douglas                                                                       45       55     3.0    3.0   3.2  5.0  3.2                                    ______________________________________                                         INDEX:                                                                        .sup.a 5hard 1soft                                                            .sup.b 5green, fresh like, 1dry, brown                                        .sup.c 5dark red, 1green, pink                                                .sup.d 5prime 1not marketable                                                 .sup.e Total Soluble Solids (T.S.S.) expresses fruit sweetness and was        determined with a refractometer                                               .sup.f U.S. Plant Pat. Application Ser. No. 07/823,802, January 22, 1992.     .sup.g U.S. Plant Pat. Application Ser. No. 07/823,721, January 22, 1992.     .sup.h U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,487                                         

What is claimed is:
 1. A new distinct variety of strawberry plantsubstantially as illustrated and described and distinguished as beingable to grow in September and produce fruit starting in November andlasting until summer, with fruit having a good taste and shape and along shelf life.